I have been quite busy recently, explaining my absence from blog posting. Among other things, I’ve been working on a new book – nearing completion – Light and Shadow, featuring well over 100 black and white images from the last 30 years of my photography. Virtually every photograph has been reprocessed for publication. More on that in coming days.

Steve Hyde is the author of this week’s Lens Artists Challenge. He wants us to post no more than five of our “best ever” photographs. I love these “Best Images” because at heart I’m an old show-off. Some of the photographs in the new book definitely qualify as “Best Ever.”

These are the San Francisco Peaks in winter, near Flagstaff, Arizona. This area in Arizona saw a great deal of volcanic activity, and these peaks are among the most picturesque remnants. The black and white edit was cleaned up a bit.

This is MacDowell Lake, in Peterborough, New Hampshire, formed by the MacDowell Dam. This was a favorite in color, but I find I like the black and white version as well.

Titled “Sanctuary,” this image was captured in the Hammond Japanese Gardens in North Salem, NY. I have edited (and shared) this image in countless versions. This one is as close as possible to the original photograph. Again, I don’t feel I can do better than this.

Finally, a recent image. These are windswept reeds and tall weeds. I’m sure why, but I find this image soothing, relaxing, reassuring. I’m very pleased with the effect. (No AI! In fact, except for some AI-assisted tweaks of the San Francisco Peaks above, there was no AI in any of these images.).

Show off that I am, I’d love to keep showing images. (Stay tuned for news of the book!) But Steve has limited us to five.

Thanks to Steve Hyde for this week’s challenge. Next week is Ritva’s turn to give us a task. Have a great week, all!